Space-based Experiment Will Tackle the Mysteries of Cosmic Rays
On August 14, 2017, a groundbreaking University of Maryland-designed cosmic ray detector will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX-12 Commercial Resupply Service mission. The instrument, named ISS Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (ISS-CREAM), is roughly the size of a refrigerator and will remain installed on the ISS’ Japanese Experiment Module for at least three years. The massive amounts of data ISS-CREAM will collect could reveal new details about the origin and diversity of cosmic rays.
Eun-Suk Seo, a professor of physics with a joint appointment in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, is the lead investigator for ISS-CREAM and UMD’s Cosmic Ray Physics Group.
